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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23440654">Bitter Almonds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolaishuman/pseuds/Lolaishuman'>Lolaishuman</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sherlock Holmes &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Sweet John, Sweet Sherlock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:41:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23440654</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolaishuman/pseuds/Lolaishuman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They were waiting for a call.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sherlock Holmes/John Watson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Sherlock Fandom VS 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bitter Almonds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! First time writing in this fandom, I hope I'm doing justice. This was a do it of the moment, so unbetaed, and English is not my first language, so please bear with me.<br/>That's it. Take care, and if you are in quarantine...may the force be with you.<br/>Oh, and: this has references to Love in the Times of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, especially the end.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were both waiting for the call, without talking about it. John’s phone rings at 11:00 p.m. and they know that’s it: doctor (army doctor), relatively young, no children, no significant other…it was long overdue.</p><p><br/>
“Yes, I understand…I’ll be ready…no, no, that’s not necessary…ok. Good night to you too” </p><p><br/>
John ends the call, stands in the kitchen by the table, back to Sherlock. They were waiting for it, but that doesn’t mean is easy. It definitely isn’t easy for Sherlock. </p><p><br/>
“When are you leaving?” he asks to John’s nape. Sherlock can see how his posture is slumped, how he hasn’t assimilated the news.</p><p><br/>
“Tomorrow, at six. They are picking me up. I have the night to prepare a bag and say goodbye. A week, minimum” Is the answer, still without looking at Sherlock.</p><p><br/>
If that’s how is going to be</p><p><br/>
Sherlock stands, goes closer.</p><p><br/>
“Always cover you…” he starts</p><p><br/>
“Yeah, I know” John interrupts</p><p><br/>
“Don’t touch…” is Sherlock’s second attempt</p><p><br/>
“That too” John, again</p><p><br/>
“And I know you like to give comfort to people but in this situation you have to take some distance”</p><p><br/>
That does it:  John is now looking at him, and there is a sad fear in his eyes that Sherlock knows well; it’s the fear of witnessing the death of the universe.</p><p><br/>
“I know everything you are saying, Sherlock, I know I have to be careful. That’s not what I’m afraid of. I’m…look, just, promise me that you’ll be as careful as I will” John says. </p><p><br/>
There follows a silence that the blond man takes to change postures. In a few seconds, the fear is gone and the soldier comes forward. It’s not the first time he’s seen death, not the first one to be in the middle of battle, and not the first time to be fighting for something more than himself. The way John handles chaos makes him bigger than his own body and Sherlock more certain of the future.</p><p><br/>
“John, I promise I’ll take care of myself, and I can tell you for sure that everything is going to be fine. You’ll do your job, magnificently as always, the world is going to get better, you’ll come back to Baker Street, and soon you’ll be screaming at me for keeping body parts in the fridge” That makes them both laugh, especially since is a sure thing that the scream will be happening via Skype in the meantime. </p><p><br/>
“And John, since we are being emotional, I want to renovate the vow I made to you the first day we met: I love you. I’ve been in love with you for 10 years, 3 months, 2 days and 13 hours, and there is nothing that will stop me from doing it, of from taking care of you. I’m saying this now, realizing that you may not feel the same, because I know that you’ll be under extreme circumstances during the following days, circumstances that will take a toll on you, and so, on those moments, I want you to know that here in Baker Street, you are loved.” </p><p><br/>
This is the moment when Sherlock could ask himself why he chose this moment, why now, why not in the future, when John could make a decision not based on the urgency of the situation, but in the end, he thinks, it’s futile. The words are out, they have only a few hours left, and there are worst things in the world right now that being in love.</p><p><br/>
“What?” -is the first word out of John’s mouth- “Sherlock, what are you talking about? What vow? I don’t recall any…”  </p><p><br/>
“That could be because I may have not said it aloud, at that moment. I made a vow to you, without giving it too much thought, because I couldn’t help it, and I did for myself, because I wasn’t sure you wanted to hear that, especially on the first day” answers Sherlock.</p><p><br/>
“You…you love…you said you love me…Jesus, Sherlock…I …I love you too” it’s what finally comes out. </p><p><br/>
It is here, with the voice dying, that the atmosphere changes. In the warmth of the room, the cold of the city, the violence of these last months, the sounds of their breathing, the smiles that are not quite yet, that they simply get together. The red threads that brought them closer the first time, are now tied.</p><p><br/>
“Will you help me pack?” John asks, already knowing.<br/>
“Yes. Will you sleep with me?” is Sherlock’s answer, knowing as well.<br/>
“Of course.”</p><p>Later, after they fussed enough over the bag, comfort vs. necessity, and they are lying in bed, that one of them dares to touch the other. In the hug it gets lost who was the first one, whose arm belong to whom, whose air are they breathing. </p><p><br/>
“Sherlock, when I come back, how long do you think we can stay in bed like this?” whispers John, mouth tasting the loved skin.</p><p><br/>
“For our lifetime, if necessary”. </p>
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